Water quality summit concludes in Williamsburg

A two-day statewide summit on how best to convince private property owners to adopt conservation landscaping in order to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay concludes today in Williamsburg.

Stakeholders from conservationists and government officials to landscapers and academics have been networking and comparing notes at the Williamsburg Lodge, as well as brainstorming strategies for a "path forward" for communities and the general public.

The 64,000-square-mile watershed includes portions of the District of Columbia and six states, including Virginia, which have been struggling to restore the polluted estuary for decades. A major source of pollution is stormwater runoff, which carries harmful amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment into the bay, harming marine life.

Options for property owners to reduce runoff and harmful contaminants include installing rain barrels, replacing grass lawns with native plants and trees and refraining from using chemical fertilizers.

The summit was presented by Wetlands Watch, based in Norfolk, in partnership with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.